The good part of grad. school applications

My roommate Anne (from Jeff's infamous "Happy Birthday" story) and I have discovered very quickly that applying to graduate schools, outside of the stress and agony, can be a very profitable experience. This past weekend for instance, we both got flown out to the exciting city of West Lafayette, Indiana for a grad. school expo at Purdue University. Unfortunately my first trip to the mid-west was cut short by flight delays, and we ended up spending less than 24 hours total on Purdue's campus. But being the resourceful, opportunity-driven Olin students that we are, we decided to skimp on sleep to pack in a sneak preview of Purdue social life, time with both our high school friends, a meaty self lead campus tour (at 6am), dinner at an all you can eat buffet (mm, most important), as well as a day's worth of conference activities -- all between getting there at 8:30pm one day, and leaving at 3pm the next.

It was interesting to catch up with my high school friends studying engineering at Purdue -- needless to say, both our academic and social experiences are a little different, given the differences in age/ size/ tradition/ everything between our respective institutions, both having their own advantages and disadvantages. At the end of the day, I think it really just comes down to the type of person you are, and how you learn. I know that if my friend had ended up at a place like Olin, just the smallness would have driven him nuts. I know that I would probably have been fine at a bigger school, but am definitely happier, especially with respect to academics, at a small school right now. Sure, sometimes the social aspects of it get a little constricting -- more so the older you get, I'm finding -- but I think it's been more than well worth it for the academic experience. But I've done this once, and I'll be fine with a small program, but I'm definitely going for a BIG place for grad. school.

Enough talk -- now, for the obligatory photo gallery.

Anne & Meena Rock Purdue. Teehee!

Also exciting/ scary, it turns out that Midwest Connect flies some TINY planes. I got to ride a Beech 1900C, a propeller plane that seats 19 passengers. We could barely stand up straight on the inside -- scary!

Me with the tiny plane!

Also check out this cool New York Times Magazine article about Olin, and the way engineering is taught here. It's been three years, but it's still so exciting to see our little school get the recognition it deserves. :o)That's it for now!